God Gave Me You
by cpdfan4
Summary: Because sometimes music says all the things we're afraid to. Linstead, always. Inspired by 4x01.


_AN: Hiii beautiful people, I'm back – and super inspired/melted/in fucking LOVE after 4x01's Linstead scenes. I was listening to sappy country songs and this popped into my head, because obviously I'm more emotionally invested in this fictional relationship than any in my own life ;) I'm still super busy with school and probably shouldn't have even taken the time to write this, so I can't promise updates on any of my other stories at the moment but I hope you enjoy this! I changed a few details/it doesn't really follow all story lines but I hope you still like it. xo_

 _Disclaimer: I own nothinnnnng._

"What about this one?" Kim asked, pressing play on the 48th song on her Spotify playlist.

Erin groaned. When Kim had invited her over for help choosing her and Adam's wedding song, Erin had gratefully accepted in hopes that it would take her mind off of everything going on with Voight and Crowley. And that it would distract her from the question Jay had sprung on her at work the day prior. "Isn't this something you should be doing with, I don't know, your fiancé?" Erin asked, with a little more sass than intended.

Kim shook off her attitude, knowing her friend had been through hell and back the last few weeks. "Please listen? I think this might be the one."

"Fine," Erin sighed, dropping her head back against Kim's couch and closing her eyes as "God Gave Me You" by Blake Shelton began to play from Kim's laptop.

 _I've been a walking heartache  
I've made a mess of me  
The person that I've been lately  
Ain't who I wanna be  
But you stay here right beside me  
Watch as the storm goes through  
And I need you_

 _'Cause God gave me you for the ups and downs  
God gave me you for the days of doubt  
For when I think I've lost my way  
There are no words here left to say, it's true  
God gave me you, gave me you_

Erin felt a growing tightness in her chest and hot tears began to sting her eyes as she listened to the lyrics. "Kim, what's the name of this song?" she choked out.

"God Gave Me You," Kim answered, not looking up from the to-do list she was writing. "Do you like-" she stopped writing as she looked up at Erin and saw the tears streaming down her face. "What's wrong?"

"I-" Erin tried to explain herself, but couldn't do it. "I have to go." The detective hastily stood from Kim's couch and grabbed her keys from the coffee table before disappearing out the door.

"Erin!" Kim called, only to be met with the sound of her apartment door slamming. "What the hell?" she whispered to herself.

Erin took a deep breath as she walked outside into the muggy Chicago night. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and tried to quickly collect herself as she got into her car. There was somewhere she had to be immediately but she'd never get there in one piece of the tears didn't stop blurring her vision.

Ten minutes and a few close calls later, she threw her car into park and ran inside the apartment building, sprinting up four flights of stairs to avoid waiting for the elevator. When she found the door she was looking for, she knocked on it urgently. After what seemed like years, but was probably only 30 seconds, the door swung open to reveal her boyfriend.

"Hey," Jay said softly, unable to stop himself from breaking out in a huge grin when he saw his girl in his doorway. Erin didn't reply, she just took a step forward and enveloped him in a hug, her arms squeezing tight around his torso as she buried her head in his chest. Jay was shocked, to say the least. She had been pushing him away like no other during the past week, and he thought he might've scared her away for good after he asked her to move in yesterday. Nonetheless, he wrapped his arms around her and placed a kiss into her hair, inhaling the scent of her coconut shampoo that he loved so much.

"Er, are you okay?" he murmured into her hair as he backed them up out of the doorway into the privacy of his apartment.

He felt her nod against his chest and she took a deep breath before she pulled back to look into his eyes, not letting go of him. For the first time, he caught sight of her tear-stained cheeks and bloodshot eyes, but little did he know they were from happy tears. "Yeah," she whispered. "I'm okay."

"You don't lo-" Jay began, but she cut him off.

"I love you." She announced, her hazel eyes boring into his blue ones. Her voice sounded stronger than it had all night.

Jay's jaw dropped at her admission. Obviously he loved Erin. Hell, he'd been in love with her for the better part of three years. But he never saw this coming, especially not after the past two weeks she'd had.

"I love you too, Er." Jay pressed a kiss to her forehead, his lips lingering as he waited for an explanation. He'd wanted to be the first to say it, but he wasn't even mad. Nothing could beat this feeling, he was sure of it.

"Can we sit?" she asked quietly, suddenly exhausted. Not wanting to lose contact with Jay, she grabbed his hand as he led them to the couch and cuddled into his side as soon as he sat down. "I, um, I know I've been a little distant lately. And I know it seemed like I was shutting you out and that everything you were saying to me was going in one ear and out the other. And if I treated anyone else like that, they would have given up on me a long time ago." Erin took a deep breath to recollect herself, lifting her head off Jay's shoulder to make eye contact with him. "But you didn't. You have been by my side since the night it happened- well, you've been by my side for years before that. And even then, I didn't deserve it. It's like the less I deserve to be loved, the more you love me."

"Erin," Jay said softly, reaching his hand out to cup her cheek. "I-"

"Let me finish. Please," she rasped, moving her hand up to cover his on her cheek. "I was at Kim's tonight, helping her try to pick a song to dance to with Adam. She literally made me listen to 50 songs, and honestly I thought if I heard one more guitar chord I was going to rip my ears off," she let out a quiet laugh for the first time all night. "But then she played this song, and I was just sitting there, listening to the words, and all I could think of was you. It was like everything I've been trying to tell you for the past two weeks was just laid out in front of me; just written for us. And my heart physically began to hurt because of how much I love you. And I knew I hadn't told you yet, because this scares me shitless… but once again, the song brought me back to the past two weeks- actually, the past year, probably- and I knew you had to know. You deserved to know."

Jay couldn't take it anymore and he leaned in to press his lips to Erin's in a slow, sweet kiss. "What was the song?" he whispered against her lips, not ready to pull away.

"God Gave Me You." Erin said quietly, pulling back just enough to open her eyes. She lazily traced patterns along his jaw, strangely enjoying the way his stubble felt on her fingers.

"Would you believe me if I told you that was my favorite song?" Jay asked, his blue eyes sparkling as he stared at Erin.

"Oh my god," A smile overtook her face for the first time in what felt like ages. "I forgot you were a closet country music fan."

"Only because the songs make me think of you. I love you so much, Er." Jay pulled his girlfriend back on top of him, burying his face in her hair again. Now that he knew he could say those three words, he wasn't sure he'd ever stop.

"Thank you for everything." She mumbled into his chest. "I promise I'll explain everything soon. I just can't right now because I don't even understand it myself."

"I got you, babe. You don't owe me any explanations. Just let me be there for you, okay?" Jay rubbed her back soothingly.

"You can literally be there for me 24 hours a day… because I kinda think I wanna move in with you. I mean, if you'll still have me." Erin pulled out of Jay's hold, eager to see the childish grin she knew was overtaking his face.

"Seriously?" Jay gasped, in slight disbelief.

"Careful, Halstead, if you smile any bigger your cheeks might get stuck like that. Then I might reconsider my decision because that would be terrifying…"

"There's my girl," Jay shook his head as his grin grew even bigger. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

Erin shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe-"

Jay cut her off. "I have a meeting with my agent in the morning. To see the townhouse. If you wanna come, I mean-"

Now it was Erin's turn to cut him off. "I'd love to."

"I love you." Jay said again.

"Do you know any other words?" Erin teased. "I love you too, Jay."

She watched him once again fail miserably to wipe the smile off his face and at that moment, Erin realized it how stupid she had been to ever think she was stuck alone in this storm. She wondered why she'd been letting herself get whipped around by the treacherous winds of an emotional hurricane for the past two weeks, when all she'd needed to do was to reach for Jay's hand so he could pull her out in one swift motion. She silently thanked every god in the universe for giving her Jay Halstead as she leaned in to fuse their lips together again.


End file.
